Paul is the writer of the 2 letters to the church in Corinth. Chapter 12 is titled, “Paul’s Vision & His Thorn In The Flesh”. Paul first talks about being “caught up” to Heaven and how awesome it was. But then he says he doesn't want to boast aka brag about it.
In verse 7, Paul explains how he was given a “thorn in the flesh”, a messenger from Satan to torment him and keep him from being proud. Some people try to explain this away as a physical condition, but he clearly states “a messenger from Satan” so there is no reason to speculate.
That is what Paul asked God to take away in our verses. 3 times. God said HIS power works best in weakness. You see, if we get proud and think we have it all figured out, that’s not good. God wants us to be dependent on Him. Not independent living in the world doing our own thing.
Remember that song we learned growing up, Jesus Loves Me? Man, the writer got it wrong on that one. It says, “little ones to Him belong, they are weak, He is strong”. While that’s technically true- Paul says, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (Verse 10) Of course God is strong! Always. He makes US strong….but we have to let Him.
The thing is, we could just wallow in whatever weakness we are dealing with. We could “woah is me” and complain about the hard stuff. OR we can boast about the strength we receive from Him. He can get us through anything!
